MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith-Chapter 1442: Myriad Prodigies: Intermission

"Well… that was interesting."

Slowly rousing his original identity once more from its long slumber, Valyr took a while to readjust to his current surroundings, slightly finding it surprising that no one had woken him up throughout the entire thing.

Though, as he noticed how some of the people in the tavern he was in looked at him with a hint of awe and admiration in their eyes, the young man was easily able to obtain his answer.

Letting out a slight chuckle as he stood up from his seat, Valyr proceeded to make his way out of the tavern after that, paying his bill as he briefly thought back to all of the things that happened after Ataraxia had completed and passed the first round with flying colors.

'Through my other identity, I was able to find out that the organizations watching the tournament start their recruitment after everyone in the batch is done with their attempts at the first round.'

Continuing to mull over it, the gears in Valyr's mind slowly began to turn. 'Unsurprisingly, almost all of the organizations congregate towards the participants that had at least achieved a decent score in all of their chosen areas.'

'Of course, with me getting Platinum on all three, it goes without saying that all of the organizations within the tournament wanted to get me on their side no matter the means.'

The young man bitterly smiled at the thought. 'In fact, even the main arbiters of the tournament spared no effort in sweetening the recruitment deal as much as possible.'

Thinking back to the benefits he would obtain if he were to join their respective organizations, Valyr briefly felt as if the efforts he put into getting where he currently was had gone to waste.

After all, although the wording each of them gave him slightly differed among one another, the benefits they offered him could be pretty much summed up into one statement.

'Whatever you want, we'll give it to you.'

In the end, Valyr decided to postpone whose wing he'd join to the end of the tournament, even if he was greatly enticed by the offers the organizations gave him.

Fortunately, with the talent and prowess he showed during the first round, none of the organizations recruiting him had any problems with that, thinking that it was only right for him to make such a decision.

In fact, even the main arbiters were in agreement with his thoughts, telling him that it was a privilege he'd earned after putting all the hard work during the first round.

'Then again, the stare Erika was giving me was definitely weird,' thought Valyr at the end of it all, slightly shuddering as he briefly recalled the moment the two exchanged glances once more.

However, unlike before where her gaze tried to force him to devote his everything to her, the gaze she gave him this time around felt more like she was trying to remove the curtain that shrouded his secrets.

Briefly shaking his head to remove the memory from his head, Valyr eventually met up with Ataraxia, who immediately beamed a wide smile at him the moment the two saw each other.

"Look at you being so smug," said Valyr with a chuckle. "You can celebrate for now… because it won't be long until I match your record and crush it."

"As if," replied Ataraxia in return, letting out a chuckle that was part amusement and part glee. "You may have taught me everything I know, but can you do everything I just did there?"

"We'll see," responded Valyr with a shrug, only for the two of them to then make their way to a more secluded area of the underground town.

Considering that the two of them had greater reputation than the masses, it took a while for them to truly be away from the senses of the others.

Though, once they were able to do so, Valyr and Ataraxia both let out a faint sigh of relief, with Ataraxia faintly nodding as he brought up a screen in front of him.

Whoosh!

Using his player identity to send a message to Mystia on Erika's actions, Valyr looked at both of his identities for a bit as he pondered over the conversation he orchestrated between them just earlier.

Feeling like he'd put in enough effort to craft an image that the two shared a teacher-student relationship, the young man went ahead and dispelled [Soul Split] for the meantime, leaving Ataraxia as the sole identity remaining within the underground town.

"Although I was called for the first round during the 5th batch, the possibility of my other identity being called in the next few batches is considerably low."

Muttering these words to himself, the young man slowly made his way back to the main parts of the underground town, finding a place to rest and relax.

"If anything, it's more likely that I'd be called around the middle or the end of the first round, especially if I consider the reputation I've accumulated so far."

With this thought acting as self-assurance, Valyr decided to fully unwind for the meantime, preparing both his body and mind in advance for his second appearance.

…

"It's already been half a week since the official start of the tournament."

Taking a sip of the drink he ordered, Ataraxia looked at the young man before him with slight annoyance. "Surely they won't save you for the last batch, right?"

"There's always the possibility of it happening," replied Valyr with a slight shrug. "However, only the organizers know as to whether it really is happening or not."

After spending the entire day after his attempt removing the mental fatigue he felt, Valyr went ahead and activated [Soul Split] as much as possible, making use of the opportunity given to him to improve his control over two bodies at once.

At the same time, he activated the skill with the thought of not wanting to be caught off guard the moment his original identity was called to come on stage. After all, both of them would be disqualified from the tournament if anyone were to find out.

Yet, during the past four days he waited, Valyr's name wasn't even called a single time.

…Until today, that is.

"For the 214th batch, please head up to the surface once I call your name."

"…"

"…Azure Spear."